Chapter Forty-Six

As I walked onto the Harshberger campus, my thoughts turned from Chief Rose to the Computer Services Department.

My cell rang. “Miss Humphrey?”

“Yes.”

“This is Tyler Hart. Becky’s public defender brought me up to speed on her case. Her case is set to be heard at the Knox County Courthouse on Tuesday.”

“So soon?”

“There was a cancellation on the court’s calendar, so I was able to get her in. It shouldn’t take long since she is pleading guilty to all the charges.”

“There are no new charges?”

“No. She needs to be there at eight thirty Tuesday morning. I know the judge. He usually makes up his mind quickly. We should know her sentence within the hour.”

I pressed my lips together, taking in all that Becky’s lawyer told me. “What do you think it will be?”

“Like I told you and Becky in my office, I’ve asked for community service and probation. I think the prosecutor will go for it. He doesn’t want to send an Amish girl to jail.”

My breath caught in my chest. “Is jail possible?”

There was a pause. “If the prosecutor decides to add auto theft to the list of charges, yes, she would get at least six months in jail.”

My knees went weak. “She didn’t steal the car!”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry. I’ve seen a draft of the charges. It wasn’t on there. If it shows up, we’ll fight that. Just make sure Becky’s there on Tuesday. The best thing to do is keep the prosecution on our side and the judge happy.”

I stepped into the department to find Miller and Clark hovering over their laptops at the conference table. Joel wasn’t in the office yet. Why was I not surprised?

“Good morning,” Clark said.

Beads of perspiration gathered on Miller’s upper lip and the crease of his brow.

I put the cookies and pie on the conference table.

Clark eyed it. “Is this like a last meal before the execution?”

I sighed. “No.”

Clark grinned. “I’m not saying I won’t eat it. I love strawberry pie.” He nodded toward Miller. “You can have the cookies. I’m not wasting my time on those.”

Joel arrived as Clark was slicing the pie in half. He pointed at one half. “This is my share. You can divide the rest among yourselves.”

Joel glared at the table, then at me. “Is that from your little Amish friends?”

I ignored his comment and went into my office.

“Dude,” Clark said. “You’re making it worse for yourself.”

“I already know how this is going to go,” Joel snapped.

So do I. The decision had been clear from the beginning. At ten o’clock, my office phone rang. It was Dean Klink’s secretary, Irene. He wanted to see me again.

I walked to the dean’s office as if to the executioner. Inside Dean Klink’s office, fishing lures reflected colorful light around the room. He smiled at me from his seat. “You have to make a decision.”

“I . . .”

“I know this is hard, Chloe, but we need to do this for the college.”

The decision was made, but I had a question of my own before I gave the dean my answer. “Why did you hire me?”

The short man pushed away from his desk and peered at me with narrowed eyes, as if taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“There are plenty of qualified candidates out there looking for work who would love this job. Most of these people have much more experience than I do. Why did you choose me?”

He licked his lips. “I knew you were the best person for the job.”

“How?”

He stood and began to pace. “Chloe, did you make your decision or not? Who is it going to be?”

I took a deep breath and told him.

He smiled. “I knew you would do the right thing. That’s why I hired you.”

I felt sick. As much as I disliked Joel, I knew he needed the job.

“I knew who you would choose,” the dean said. “I’ve already spoken to human resources. The sooner we take care of this, the better. Let me call security.”

My eye brows shot up. “Why do we need security?”

“It’s a precaution, one we have to exercise with all our employees, especially considering his access to sensitive information. Joel works for you. You know he has access to everything.”

I chewed off my lip balm. Dean Klink was right.

“You will have to kill his access to all the servers and computer networks. Can you do that?”

I inhaled another deep breath. “Yes.”

Two hours later I watched as Joel cleaned out his desk. Clark and Miller sat at the table and solemnly watched too. The pudgy sunburned security guard observed Joel from the department’s entrance.

Joel set a picture of his family into the box. My stomach clenched. “Do you need help carrying anything?”

He glared at me. Obviously not the right question.

Miller jumped up and picked up a box. “I’ll help him.”

I nodded and retreated into the doorway of my tiny office.

Joel picked up his briefcase, and Miller and Clark each took a box. After twenty years of working at Harshberger, his entire career fit into two boxes. Nausea overwhelmed me. Miller and Clark left the office first.

Joel turned at the doorway. “Klink didn’t make a mistake when he hired you after all. You did exactly what he wanted. The only surprise is that you don’t scare easily.”

He left, and the security guard closed the department door behind them. I pushed the taste of bile back down my throat and erased Joel’s access from every part of Harshberger’s computer system. You don’t scare easily resounded in my head with each click of the mouse.